


Of Carrels and Pick-up Lines

by taykash



Category: Arashi (Band), Japanese Actor RPF
Genre: F/M, Implied Relationships, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 21:10:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1913967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taykash/pseuds/taykash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nino is either the best or the worst person to be running this internet manga cafe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Carrels and Pick-up Lines

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yattayay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yattayay/gifts).



> Originally written for yayhooraywoohoo for Kitto Slutparty 2013. Can also be found on LJ [here](http://taykash.livejournal.com/13676.html).

Nino’s job at a manga café involved him doing not much. All he had to do was collect people’s money and direct them to their assigned carrel. In return, he played video games all day and had free access to a fully-stocked drink bar. Between those perks and the fact that his customers never caused him trouble, the job suited him well.

Nino grew fond of most of his regulars, most of them fairly socially awkward men who came in to play MMORPGs all night, but a few people came in to use the carrels as workspaces or just to sleep in.

Oh-chan came in at least twice a week with his sketchbook, sitting down on the lumpy couch in the lobby even though Nino had already assigned him a carrel.

“So in Dragon Quest 9,” Nino drawled on as Ohno quietly drew lines in his large sketchbook, “there’s a map that’s just Metal King Slimes. It’s the best and also the worst.”

Ohno made a non-committal noise and kept drawing, occasionally switching pencils.

“They give you an obscene amount of EXP, but they run away really quickly so it’s hard getting there,” Nino kept talking, mashing buttons on his 3DS. “You just have to keep getting at them, eventually you’ll kill one and voila, instant level up.”

“I’m done,” Ohno said over an hour later, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked over his work. Nino had eventually quieted down, other than occasional curses at his 3DS. “It’s a Nino.”

“Is that me as Hachiko?” Nino said flatly, his eyebrows narrowed. The drawing had Nino crouched on all fours in his blue-striped briefs, nipples dark and proud, with his tongue sticking out. Nakedness juxtaposed with caricature.

“Yeah,” Ohno said, his lips pulled tightly into a bow as he tried not to smile.

“Go to your damn carrel,” Nino grumbled, turning around so his back was against the counter and raising the volume on his 3DS. He turned back around when he heard the click of Ohno’s carrel door closing, only to come face to face with the drawing leaning against the couch.

“Stupid,” Nino said, his voice fond. He retrieved the picture and posted it to the bulletin board behind the front desk.

\-----

There was also Aiba, who Nino constantly had to keep an eye on lest there be another smoking printer incident.

(“You can’t fix this with kisses,” Nino said crossly as he dropped the plugs he’d yanked out of the wall, the printer black with ash and toner.

“What about a blowjob?” Aiba asked, looking sheepish.)

But one day, Sakurai Sho walked in.

Sakurai Sho wore a suit and carried a briefcase, much like a lot of Nino’s customers. He, however, had a much nicer haircut than most people who patronized his business, and his suit looked like it cost more than what Nino paid for rent. “I’d like to use a computer,” he said politely, and Nino slapped down an application form on the counter.

“100 yen for membership, and this is the fee chart per time,” Nino explained, dropping a pen on top of the sheet of paper.

Sakurai looked awkward, brushing his bangs out of his eyes with his free left hand. “I can’t just use a computer without membership?”

“Nope. Them’s the rules,” Nino said, leaning back in his chair, his eyes steady on Sakurai’s face. Usually the salarymen that rented carrels from Nino were sweaty and pale, but Sakurai had features that were right up Nino’s alley. Nino outright stared at his lips.

“Fine,” Sakurai sighed, and filled out the form with his information. Nino squinted at his careful lettering as he wrote; his apartment wasn’t far from the café, just over by Ueno Park.

“Here’s your membership card,” Nino slid it towards him. “Write your name on the back and you can use carrel number one. Don’t forget to get some free drinks.”

“Thanks,” Sakurai replied politely, then wandered away, membership card clutched in hand. Nino wondered when he was going to notice the post-it note stuck to his card with Nino’s contact information.

\-----

Matsumoto Jun was an infrequent member, but Nino always looked forward to his appearances. He dressed gaudily, usually wearing accessories that caught the changing colored lights of the computer keyboard inside his carrel so that Nino knew where he was just by the flashes catching on the ceiling.

“I’m a design student,” he had told Nino once when he was pre-paying for a 6 hour rental, “and I like using this place to work.”

J, as Nino called him, was cocky enough to rival Nino, with features that made Nino think he’d probably been scouted at least twice by model agencies who trolled Harajuku for the next big thing. But instead of being on the cover of some fancy magazine, he spent time in the claustrophobic box Nino assigned him to, fingers dirty with marker residue.

“When are you going to take me out to dinner?” Nino always asked when J was signing out for the day. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Maybe once I make my big break,” he always responded with a laugh before heading towards the elevators.

\-----

And then sometimes his regulars took the bait.

Narimiya Hiroki, a college student with a part-time night job at the motorcycle repair shop next door, frequently came in on his lunch breaks with enough food to share. By midnight, when Narimi (as Nino called him) usually stopped by, business typically had slowed down since the last trains had ended but the drunks hadn’t yet finished their partying. The hard-core gamers were in their overnight carrels, and Nino was free to join Narimi.

He left a bell on the counter in case anyone did show up.

The carrels were actually pretty comfortable, if a tight fit for two people snacking on onigiri and convenience store oden.

“You need to stop getting kimchi onigiri so often,” Nino complained, using his chopsticks to slice a boiled egg in half. “It makes you smell.”

“Like it bothers you that much,” Narimi laughed, popping the last of the riceball in his mouth. “I ate that really spicy ramen once and you still made out with me.”

“Made my nose run,” Nino sighed, “Not the worst idea I’ve ever had, but not one I’m proud of.”

“Whatever,” Narimi said with a shrug, balling up the plastic wrap that had been around the riceball and throwing it into a corner of the carrel. “Hurry up and finish eating.”

“I’m done, I’m done,” Nino said through a mouthful of chikuwa. He put his chopsticks down and shoved the rest of the food away. “Now shut up and kiss me.”

Narimi grinned, his lips curling up at the edges like a cat, and did just that.

\-----

When Nino went home, he went home to an apartment that was decorated with brighter colored furniture than he would have liked, and a genkan that was plastered with neon animal stickers.

He heard the fast clicking of claws on the floor before the little dachshund turned the corner to greet him, nearly careening itself into the wall in its eagerness to jump all over his socked feet.

“I’m home,” he called, heading towards the living room. All the lights were on even though it was already 4 am.

“Hi,” Riisa smiled, sitting on their pink zebra-printed couch with their black Chihuahua curled up in her lap, stark against her bright blue and green pajama pants. “Long day?”

“Nah, Narimi came in,” he said, grabbing packaged cold tea from the fridge before going to sit next to her. “So it was pretty relaxing.”

“Good, because I’m too tired to do anything with you right now anyway,” she said, shifting to lean against him. “I don’t have work tomorrow.”

“Didn’t you have a party to DJ at?” he asked curiously, sliding an arm around her and allowing her to snuggle closer.

“Wedding cancelled,” Riisa laughed, “the bride and groom eloped so her parents got angry and cancelled. Non-refundable deposit, though, so I’m okay with that.”

“Tomorrow’s my day off, too,” Nino mused, closing his eyes as he leaned his head against the back of the couch. “Let’s not do anything or go anywhere or see anyone.”

“Perfect,” Riisa agreed, “though maybe we can invite Hiroki-kun over.”

“Let’s make it just us for once,” Nino replied, shifting so that they were lying down on the couch together. “Next time you come to the café I’ll let him know, though. We can get the big carrel.”

“You’re going to get fired,” Riisa laughed quietly into the soft fabric of his t-shirt.

“Worth it,” Nino announced, rubbing small, lazy circles on her back. “Almost as much as the massive amounts of HP you get when you kill a Metal King Slime.”

“Let’s watch Whisper of the Heart,” Riisa said, curling her foot around his ankle. “It’ll be a nice beginning to our day off together.”

“Let’s,” Nino replied, and turned on the TV.


End file.
